


The Breath of Eternity

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Prompt Collection [76]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Codependency, Hurt Stephen Strange, Hurt/Comfort, IronStrange Bingo 2019, James "Rhodey" Rhodes - Freeform, M/M, Pepper Potts - Freeform, Protective Tony Stark, Soul Bond, Stephen Strange Bingo 2019, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, and it gets broken before he puts it back together himself, in a minor apperance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 10:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20338960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: When Stephen dies after snapping his fingers Tony will do everything to get the man he loves back.Everything.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago I got this lovely prompt from @i-love-you-3247:  
_Established relationship AU where Stephen died instead of Tony in Endgame. Racked with guilt Tony becomes the sorcerer supreme to continue his boyfriend's work._
> 
> Well, this went in a very different direction than I anticipated, but of course I couldn't tear them apart forever. It's grey, not black but I needed a fill for Darkfic and this is as dark as I'm willing to get. Enjoy two co-depended idiots who are so much in love that not even death and time itself can tear them apart and will find a way to stay together forever.  
The title is taken from Bruce Springsteen's hauntingly beautiful _Paradise_. 
> 
> @ironstrangebingo: _Time Travel_ | @stephenstrangebingo: _Darkfic_ | @badthingshappenbingo: _Lost Their Voice from Screaming_
> 
> The second chapter of this is a little vignette I wrote months ago that inspired the bigger story.

"Shh, Stephen, it's okay. I'm here."

Tony barely glanced aside when Wong and Pepper appeared next to him, followed by Rhodey and Peter only a step behind. His whole attention was focused on the man before him.

He had to steady Stephen's head so he could look up at Tony with the one undamaged eye he had left. The whole right side of his body was burned beyond recognition, the Cloak was singed and torn too, just as mortally wounded as its master.

Stephen struggled to speak but Tony put a hand to his lips.

"Shh," Tony told him again. "Don't. Just relax. Please, sweetheart, don't struggle. It's okay." He bent forwards to touch Stephen's left temple with his forehead. "Let go. You've saved us all, you've done your duty." Stephen's eyes closed, his body already losing tension. "I love you," Tony told him the moment he stopped breathing and kissed his left cheek.

Pepper's hand landed on his shoulder while Wong reached out to Stephen. They all watched in silence as the remnants of the Cloak turned black as night and curled around Stephen in a last act of devotion before it became as lifeless as its master.

"Goodbye, Stephen."

*

Tony held himself together until he was back home in the Sanctum, barely responding to the words of his friends and comrades, caught in an everlasting flashback of Stephen's last moments. Tony didn't even know if his beautiful mind had been there, right at the end, or if his soul had gone the moment he snapped his fingers. Stephen had been so _empty_ in those last few seconds, not even responding to Tony's touch when he had always done so before. His love had to die in agony, to hurt to even scream or cry.

So Tony did it for him. Alone, in a secluded room of the Sanctum where Stephen had built a garden for them to find peace and relax from the world. A couple of Stephen's magical butterflies where still fluttering around but Tony knew that they would fade away in a few days. Then the last remnant of Stephen would be gone for good.

"I can't lose him," he confessed to one of the little things which had landed on his fingers. "He's my everything."

Finally, the tears came. He curled up in the middle of the garden, feeling alone and unprotected without Stephen's strong arms around him to hold him together and without the feeling of soft fabric embracing them both.

*

"What now?" he asked Wong some time later. Could have been days, could have been weeks. He had no idea. He'd dragged himself out of the garden with the last of his strength - only to be greeted by Wong, Pepper and Rhodey.

Thanks to hours of continued screaming his voice was barely a whisper and he could see how the others struggled to hear him. He didn't care.

"What do you mean?" This wasn't about funeral arrangements and wills, as Wong very well knew. Pepper tried to take his hand but he took it away to hold on to his cup of coffee with both hands before she could make contact. He pretended to not see her hurt expression.

"Stephen is… _was_," he corrected himself angrily, "Sorcerer Supreme. Who's the next in line to protect us when the next monster comes along, hell bent on destroying our world?"

Wong didn't answer which was an answer in itself.

"There isn't one?" Rhodey asked in disbelief just as Tony closed his eyes and committed himself to the path he knew was his now.

"Teach me," he simply said, ignoring Pepper and Rhodey and concentrating on Wong. "This is how it was supposed to go, wasn't it? This is why he started to show me spells and tried everything under the sun to take away my fear of magic after we came back from Titan. _This is what he saw__, wasn't it_?"

Wong reached out and took his hand. Tony let him.

"I'm sorry, Tony. But it was the only way. He told me that over and over again."

He wanted to scream again, take Stephen and shake him until he stopped speaking those stupid words, show the universe what he thought about its schemes and rage against the unfairness of it all. Instead he bowed his head and let his tears fall in silence. _I hate you, Stephen. You should have told me. You shouldn't have… If I'd known…_

Something was put in front of him. He looked up and saw the empty case of the Time Stone.

"You're its Keeper now, it's been foretold."

The keeper of an empty case? That was bullshit. "I don't understand… oh." He did.

"Get it back before the Stones get scattered across the whole of the universe by Captain America," Wong told him. "We need it to defend our world. _You_ need it. Mastery of the Time Stone is an integral part of being Sorcerer Supreme."

"He's not even an sorcerer!" Pepper protested.

"He will be," Wong replied grimly. "He always was supposed to take over Stephen's duties."

_I hate you, fucking asshole. Come back so that I can kick your ass into oblivion for doing this to me. Dump your fucking destiny on my shoulders, will you? Run away and hide in death and leave me with this stupid magic bullshit. I hate you._

_Come back. I need you. I love you. Please, don't be dead._

He touched the empty case of the Infinity Stone with the tip of his index finger. The _Time Stone_. Of which he was now the guardian. Or would be, as soon as he could get it into his hands. Which he would then learn to use.

_Oh, you fucking **genius**!_

Tony's smile was slightly terrifying as he put the necklace around his neck. "Then let's begin with getting the Stone back." _And then you, my love._

If Stephen had thought that Tony was willing to let him go to his death without permission… no, he had to have known that Tony would never let that happen.

_You're mine._ _ I refuse to let you go. Forever, remember?_

*

"Tony, are you sure?"

He looked up from his book of spells, not even trying to act as if he didn't know what Wong was talking about. "Yes."

His voice had never really recovered from his screaming in the first few days after Stephen's death and had degenerated into a husky whisper. One had to lean close to him to hear him and most people didn't do that nowadays.

Wong was one of the very few exceptions, he'd lost most of his friends and colleagues in his headlong sprint towards magic and the faint hope of rescuing Stephen from his terrible death.

"Don't tell me that Stephen wouldn't have wanted this. He wouldn't have given me the tools otherwise. He must have seen this coming."

Wong just made a pained grimace and corrected his hand gestures for conjuring a particular tricky spell of protection.

"Are you going back to take his place or are you going back to snatch him from certain death and bring him here, into the future?"

Ah, finally, the important question was asked. Tony smiled. "Second option. I'll have to wait until after he's snapped his fingers," he shuddered at the recollection, "but before my younger self arrives at his side. I'm going to replace him with an illusion who will die in my arms while I bring Stephen back here to all the medical and magical wonders of our day and age. After all the research I've done I'm sure I can save him from the gamma radiation poisoning."

"Timing's going to be tricky."

"But it already worked, didn't it? You saw it happening, back then. You were at his side even before me." It wasn't a question.

Wong shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Tony smiled once again. "Thank you so much for confirming my theory, Wong."

"He'll be in very bad shape," Wong warned.

Tony swallowed. "I know. And he'll get all the time he needs to recover before he has to take up his duties again. I'm doing a rather good job at filling in for him so far after all." But he wasn't a replacement or a successor, he knew. He, together with Wong who was doing most of the heavy magical lifting, was just a placeholder until Stephen was well enough to take up his responsibilities as Sorcerer Supreme again.

"I'm not envying you that conversation."

"Why? He already knows what's going to happen. He saw it all play out on Titan." Tony was sure of that, just like he knew that this would work.

What he didn't know was if Stephen knew about Tony's little extra plan for them both but even if not - he would soon see that it was the only logical choice.

"You're insane," Wong commented once again.

Tony shrugged it off, like always before. "So is Stephen. One has to be as Sorcerer Supreme, I think."

Wong sighed but didn't ask again.

*

"Welcome back." Tony smiled down at Stephen who was struggling to return to consciousness. "You've been missed." Stephen turned his head towards Tony's voice. Tony was ready and put one hand on Stephen's left cheek while carefully taking hold of Stephen's wandering right hand with the other. "Shh, don't struggle. Everything's gonna be okay. Just relax and heal."

Predictably, Stephen didn't listen to him. He forced his eyes open, focusing in on Tony with uncanny precision. Tony could have wept at seeing the beautiful eyes of his beloved again. "Hey," he said as gently as possible. For the first time he cursed the broken wreck his voice had become.

"Tony." Stephen's wonderful, deep voice was also raspy and he looked at Tony for a long time, taking in the almost completely grey hair, the lines on his face and glow of the Time Stone around his neck. Eight years where a long time to pass by. "It worked," he whispered. His eyes were already closing again. "How bad?"

"Yeah, it worked. You mad genius, you." Tony pressed a gentle kiss against Stephen's forehead. "Rest now and heal. We'll talk when you're stronger."

"How bad?" he repeated and Tony gave in. Maybe a little bit of talking. He would want the same, after all.

"You have a new eye - don't worry, nothing cybernetic, it's cloned from your own DNA and just as pretty as the old one. You're still 100% you. Lots of scarring on your upper body but it shouldn't impact your mobility too much."

"My arm?"

Tony squeezed the hand he was still holding. "Lots of nano-tech and extremis but still your own." He hesitated. "With pins and nerve damage and everything."

Perversely, Stephen relaxed at the words, just as Tony knew he would. "Thank you," he whispered. "Your voice?"

Tony chuckled and kissed him again. "A casualty of war, I fear."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Everything for you, my love. Everything."

He watched as Stephen slipped into sleep once again and began to weave the first, fragile tendrils of magic between their souls while he waited for him to wake up again.

* * *

"How are you feeling, Dr. Sorcerer Supreme?" Tony asked him about a year later. A year full of gruesome rehabilitation and getting used to the fact that he'd escaped certain death one again.

"Good." The title felt right now in a way it never had before. A lot of that could be contributed to Tony's continued efforts in reassuring him that yes, he was the only one who was supposed to wear it.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready," he confirmed with a smile. He touched the Eye of Agamotto which had been back where it belonged for about a month now.

They both had woven the magic between them little by little since the day Stephen had woken up first. While Tony laid the foundation Stephen had strengthened the ties between their souls as soon as he was capable of performing intricate spells again.

"Did you know? That we end up like this?"

"It was a possibility," Stephen answered. "The best one. The one I wanted to come true."

"You could have said something." The gentle admonition wasn't a new one but it still hurt to hear how damaged Tony's voice had become because of his choices.

"Then it wouldn't have happened." He said the same words before and would repeat them as often as necessary. "One of us would have died and left the other one broken and mourning for the rest of his life."

"That can't happen now." Tony took his right hand and kissed the scarred, shaking mess. "We'll be together for all eternity now."

Stephen had been uncomfortable with the prospect back then when he woke up and felt the first anchor between Tony's soul and his own. Not because he didn't want it, by the Vishanti there was nothing he wanted more, but because of Tony. Was this really what Tony wanted or only his fear of abandonment talking?

It had taken Tony a while to dispel Stephen's doubt but as soon as the connection became strong enough Stephen could feel that this was the right choice. Together for all eternity, bound together in mind and soul.

While Tony's own innate magic was much weaker than Stephen's it, along with his stint as pseudo-Sorcerer Supreme, was enough to ensure that he would live as long as Stephen.

"You'll never escape me now."

The words should be threatening but instead they felt comforting. Stephen smiled. "Likewise. You'll be saddled with me and there's no place in the multiverse I can't and won't follow you to."

"You say it as if that's a bad thing. Ready to do your thing?"

The final part of the spell fell to Stephen on account of it needing a crazy amount of power that would pretty much deplete him. It would fall to Tony to once again take care of and protect him while he was recovered.

He hated the period of vulnerability to come but he knew that it wouldn't last long and that he could count on Tony to shield him during that time.

He raised his hands and began the incantation to irrevocably bind their souls together for all time.

"The breath of eternity," Tony whispered the name of the spell as the dark purple veil of magic settled around them both. He took both of Stephen's shaking hands between his and steadied him during the final moments.

Stephen wanted to answer but stumbled and got caught in Tony's strong arms once again. He clung to Tony as they both watched the last vestiges of the magic fade. Tony gently let him slide to the ground before he bent down to kiss him.

"Mine," Stephen whispered against Tony's lips.

A raspy chuckle was his answer. "That's my line."

The Cloak of Levitation, rescued from certain death along with Stephen, watched impatiently from the sidelines, ready to once again enfold Stephen in its protective embrace as soon as the heavy magic had cleared around the two men.

"_Our_ line."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this little scene almost a year ago and shoved it in my "not to be" folder because back then I was too lazy to write the whole backstory _why_ Tony and Stephen are so codependent. But I'm rather fond of it and I wanted to finally share it.

Tony looked at him as if he was personally responsible for every good thing in the universe. Stephen had never before in his life seen such a look of pure adoration and affection; wouldn't have thought it _possible _for one human being to look at another one like that. It was an incredible feeling to be on the receiving end of such limitless love.

His love had been the last to say his vows and had packed an incredibly amount of emotion in a few short words. It didn't matter, there weren't any witnesses anyway. This was for _them_. To bind them together until death and maybe even beyond.

It had been Tony who had brought the subject up after his fear of losing Stephen to some threat from another dimension had motivated him to do his own magical investigation. Stephen, after a moment of panic - followed by a lot of thinking - had done the necessary research to do this the right way. The _magical _way, not the watered-down version of a marriage ceremony done these days that didn't mean much in the end.

This was for real. This was forever. Tony's possessiveness and fear of losing him wouldn't allow for anything else and after a period of adjustment Stephen had not only learned to accept but to reciprocate it. It _was_ rather nice to be loved so completely by someone that they would do absolutely anything to keep you by their side.

They were on the rooftop of the Sanctum, the place where they spent most of their time now. The beautiful clear and starlight summer night sky gave the whole affair the unreal feeling of a fairytale.

Their mutual, precise hand movements, followed by an incantation by Stephen, only helped in reinforcing the feeling that this was some fantasy being played out.

It was a rather exhausting spell, digging deep not only into his reserves but also into his very soul. He heard the gasp Tony gave as he felt the echo of the magic in his own. "Stephen?" he asked uncertainly but Stephen didn't have the capacity to answer. He was busy threading the last few strands of their souls together. As soon as he was finished the stumbled, all of his energy exhausted. Tony was there in an instant to catch and steady him.

He didn't say anything else, by now he probably could feel Stephen's fatigue. Stephen just melted into the embrace and closed his eyes. After a moment Tony gently touched his cheek, wordlessly asking if everything was okay.

Stephen raised his head and nodded. He was rewarded with the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen on Tony's face, even more radiant as the one when Stephen had said "yes" to his proposal.

"Mine," he breathed before taking Stephen's head between his hands and holding him still for a kiss. "For all our days remaining."

"Yours," he agreed before he willingly went down with Tony to the waiting blankets and pillows to consummate their marriage the traditional way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this departure from my usual thing. Almost no cuddling in this one, I know, I know. But I'll make it up to you and them, promise. 😉
> 
> [tumblr post](https://amethyst-noir.tumblr.com/post/187167356506/breath-of-eternity)


End file.
